KENT SPITFIRES V SURREY BROWN CAPS at Canterbury (FPT), 18 MAY 2008

Last week Surrey had a Sunday to forget. They were thumped by 156 runs by Essex. On Friday, Essex, in turn, were thumped by Kent. So, what chance have the Brown Caps got of turning around their Friends Provident Trophy fortunes?! Let's not go there just yet. The bottom line is that Mark Butcher's men need to win their three remaining South East Division fixtures just to stand a chance of progressing to the last eight.

Kent's strength has been their bowling. Arafat, Cook, Mahmood and Stevens are all conceding less than 4.75 runs per over in the 2008 Trophy. Since these two sides met on 5 May, Robbie Joseph has come to the fore; so much so that Ryan McLaren may not get back into the Spitfires' line-up despite his useful late order contributions with the bat, which make him something of an all-rounder.

But, even without McLaren,  the hop county bat all the way down the order. Mind you, given the form that Rob Key and Darren Stevens have been in with the bat, they have had to. Leading the way, so far, is Martin van Jaarsveld who has struck 367 runs at an average of 73.40, including hundreds against Essex and Sussex; both at Canterbury.

Click here for the Surrey v Kent List A Records sheet at at the start of the 2008 season.


Jonathan Batty has 199 List A dismissals and is eight runs away from his 2,500th List A run. Alistair Brown has 19 one-day hundreds. Jade Dernbach has 46 wickets in List A cricket. Chris Jordan looks set to make his tenth one-day appearance. Mark Ramprakash has 14 one-day hundreds against his name.


The club's official website isn't offering us any clues, but after last week's drubbing at the hands of Essex what would Surrey be risking if they made a few changes. Murtaza Hussain would be top of my list for a first 1st XI appearance of the season.

OPPONENT DATE COMP RESULT VENUE SURREY OPPONENT
Essex 11 May 2008 FPT Lost By 156 Runs The Oval 235 (38.2) 391-5 (50)
Sussex 8 May 2008 FPT Won By 67 Runs Hove 346-3 (50) 279-8 (50)
Kent 5 May 2008 FPT Lost By 90 Runs The Oval 192 (42.4) 282-7 (50)
Middlesex 4 May 2008 FPT Won By 5 Wickets Lord's 236-5 (47) 233-8 (50)
Middlesex 20 Apr 2008 FPT Lost By 58 Runs The Oval 248 (43) 315-6 (50)
Leicestershire 15 Sep 2007 NL Won By 1 Wicket Leicester 236-9 (40) 231-8 (40)


In this season's FPT Surrey have lost all of their home games, but have won their two away games. Also, the Brown Caps' recent one-day record against Kent has been fairly handy. So, the obvious conclusion is that a Surrey win may well be on the cards. However, I have my doubts. The main reason is the standard of the Brown Caps' fielding. So, reluctantly, but logically, I tip the Spitfires in this one.


J Denly, R Key (capt), M van Jaarsveld, J Kemp, D Stevens, G Jones (wk), Azhar Mahmood, J Tredwell, Yasir Arafat, S Cook and R Joseph.


Ian Gould and Allan Jones.

DATE COMP RESULT VENUE TOSS DECISION SURREY KENT
5 May 2008 FPT Lost By 90 Runs The Oval Kent Bat 192 (42.4) 282-7 (50)
4 Sep 2007 NL Won By 1 Wicket Canterbury Kent Bat 160-9 (40) 159-8 (40)
6 Jul 2007 T20 Lost By 6 Wickets The Oval Surrey Bat 145 (19.5) 148-4 (19.1)
2 Jul 2007 T20 Won By 6 Wickets Beckenham Surrey Field 132-4 (17.4) 131-8 (20)
22 Apr 2007 FPT Won By 3 Wickets The Oval Kent Bat 274-7 (48.5) 271 (46.2)
23 Jul 2006 NL Won By 6 Wickets Guildford Kent Bat 232-4 (37) 229-9 (40)
11 Jul 2006 T20 Won By 60 Runs Canterbury Surrey Bat 217-4 (20) 157 (18.2)
28 Jun 2006 T20 Won By 107 Runs The Oval Kent Field 198-6 (20) 91 (11.4)
1 May 2006 C&G Won By 1 Run Canterbury Surrey Bat 223-5 (30) 222-6 (30)
22 Aug 2005 NL No Result The Oval No toss made - - -
7 Aug 2005 NL Won By 5 Wickets Canterbury Kent Bat 212-5 (41.2) 211 (45)
1 Jul 2005 T20 Won By 23 Runs The Oval Surrey Bat 167-6 (15) 144-8 (15)
22 Jun 2005 T20 Won By 7 Wickets Beckenham Kent Bat 141-3 (16) 140-8 (20)
18 Jul 2004 NL Won By 4 Wickets Canterbury Surrey Field 193-6 (33.4) 192-8 (34)
9 Jul 2004 T20 Won By 3 Runs The Oval Surrey Bat 185-7 (20) 182-9 (20)
13 Jun 2004 NL Lost By 5 Wickets The Oval Kent Field 230-8 (45) 234-5 (43.5)

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